D.J. Howard and the Tiger offensive line silenced some question marks on the Tigers' opening drive. The senior tailback blasted in from one yard out on fourth and goal to put Clemson ahead 7-0 after a 12-play, 70-yard opening drive. Cole Stoudt converted a pair of third downs on rushes to highlight the drive.

Georgia seemingly was headed for a scoring drive late in the first quarter after the 'Dogs flipped the field position until a fumble was recovered by Robert Smith, just before the tight end's elbow hit the turf. But the Tigers were unable to capitalize when a long ball to Charone Peake was deflected at the last second.

Heralded quarterback Deshaun Watson entered the game late in the first quarter and made an instant impact. After a strike to Mike Williams, he found a streaking Peake across the middle that knotted the game at 14. Watson looked every bit the part of the nation's No. 1 rated dual-threat incoming quarterback.

Williams had three grabs for 88 yards in the half, a career-high in receiving yardage.

Long jumper turned football walk-on C.J. Davidson went back to his track roots with 7:28 left in the second quarter when he went over the top for a one-yard touchdown to put the Tigers ahead 21-14. Speaking of the scoring drive, Webster threw a great block on 4th and 1 when Stoudt converted deep in UGA territory.

HALFTIME ANALYSIS

For all the talk of how Clemson would do offensively without Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins, the Tigers ran 54 plays (twice as many as Georgia) in the opening half and compiled 276 yards.

Stoudt and Watson have been a formidable duo at quarterback. Stoudt was victimized by a few drops in the first half, otherwise played an outstanding half for his first career start.

Defensively, the Tigers seemed to adjust better in the second quarter. Georgia native Vic Beasley had 1.5 tackles for loss, his second straight game against the 'Dogs with more than one TFL.